Karnage looked it over. “This is space combat gear.”
“You’ll be going into the centre of the ship,” Velasquez said. “The atmosphere’s completely toxic there. No real oxygen to speak of. Only way to get rocket fuel to burn is if it comes with its own oxy. You’ve only got two rounds, so make ’em count.” Velasquez handed him a pile of folded clothes and a helmet. “There’s a suit to go with it. Rumour has it you’re human and need to breathe just like the rest of us.”
Karnage took the suit. “How much oxy I got in this?”
“Not a lot,” Velasquez said. “Couple hours. Maybe more, if you only breathe through your nostrils. So try to stay good and pissed off.”
“You know, I finally get that joke now, Captain.”
“Good for you, Major. You’re cleverer than I thought. That only took you, what, twenty years?”
“Twenty five,” Karnage said. “But who’s counting?”
Velasquez helped Karnage into his space suit. She attached the helmet to the metal neck ring with a loud hiss-chunk.
“Follow the white lights,” Velasquez said. “They’ll take you to the centre of the ship. Find the Nucleus, and destroy it.”
“What’s it look like?” Karnage slung the rocket launcher over his shoulder.
“Like a damn bowling ball,” Velasquez said. “Small grey sphere, glowing green and sending out pulses. You’ll know it when you see it.”
Karnage nodded. He slung his goober rifle over his other shoulder.
Velasquez pointed to it. “If you think you need more firepower, I got stronger stuff than that. Stuff that actually fires bullets.”
Karnage shook his head. “No point. Killin’ stuff just pisses off ol’ Mabel here.” He tapped the Sanity Patch through his suit.
Velasquez nodded. “Good luck in there, Major.”
“Do me a favour, Vel.”
“Sir?”
Karnage pointed to the hatch. “You see anything come outta there that don’t look like me, you shoot it. Twice.”
“Only twice?” Velasquez looked disappointed.
CHAPTER FIVE
Karnage stepped through the hatch, and found himself in another fibre optic tunnel. Tiny spirals of white light spun along the walls, and he began to follow them as they shot forward a few feet, spun in place, then danced back before repeating the pattern again. It was hard to keep them in sight. He had to twist his entire torso in order to turn his head, otherwise he found himself staring at the inside of his helmet.
Karnage found the suit disconcerting, like he was walking through the world in a dream; his only real companion was his own steady breathing.
He repeated his mantra in his head, reciting a name for each step forward he took: Cookie, Velasquez, Heckler, Stumpy, Koch, Sydney. Cookie, Velasquez, Heckler, Stumpy, Koch, Sydney. Cookie, Velasquez, Heckler, Stumpy, Koch, Sydney.
The tunnel flashed as the occasional burst of green shot through the pipes. Curls of yellow mist hung in the air above him.
He came around a curve in the tunnel, and saw a figure draped in shadow sitting on the floor, a gnarled energy spear resting on its shoulder. Its torso was curled forward, head bent down. It cocked an ear towards Karnage and nodded approvingly to itself. “Oh! Hello, John.”
Karnage froze in his tracks. He recognized that voice.
“Flaherty.”
The doctor looked up. A burst of green highlighted his face, giving Karnage a quick glimpse of squiggly pupils. “It’s good to see you again.”
Karnage pulled his goober rifle off his shoulder as Flaherty shakily rose to his feet, leaning heavily against his spear with one hand. His other arm ended in a stump. An extra set of arms emerged from Flaherty’s armpits, and they gestured towards Karnage. “I must apologize for not believing you. ‘Unidentified Flying Objects of Death.’” Flaherty chuckled. “Who would have thought it was true?”
Karnage held the goober rifle in front of him. “I did,” he said.
Flaherty nodded, staring at the floor. “You did, John. You did. And you were right, weren’t you? You were right about so many things.” He looked up at Karnage with his squiggly eyes. “And yet, you were wrong. As you can see, there’s been no death. I’m still here. They haven’t killed me. In fact, they’ve rewarded me.”
A pair of tentacles unfurled from Flaherty’s back. “They’ve made me so much better than before. It’s a reward, you see. For all of my hard work.
“You know, John, on some level, you were right about me. I didn’t know about the invasion. But they were talking to me. In their own way. Much as they were talking to Charles, but differently. They… encouraged me. Helped me with my work. Provided me with insights. But I’m afraid I didn’t get it all right. Not all of it. Not you.
“I’m afraid I must apologize, John. For the Patch. It’s not what they intended. I was misinterpreting.” Flaherty’s skin filled with colour, changing from white to yellow to orange to red and back again. “I didn’t quite get it right, you see. It was… an error in judgement on my part. A misunderstanding. There was so much I did right. But you… you I have done wrong.
“Please understand. I’m not a violent man.” Flaherty pointed the spear at Karnage. Green energy crackled from the end. “I must rectify that mistake, you see. Undo what has been done. This is absolutely not personal. I hold you no ill will at all. It’s just that I mustn’t let this mar my perfect record. The mistake must be removed, John. Do you see? Do you understand? The mistake must be removed.”
Karnage threw himself against the wall of the tunnel as the crackling energy ball shot past him. Karnage aimed his goober rifle at Flaherty and fired. The pink globule took Flaherty full in the face. It knocked him back against the tunnel wall, covering his upper body. The tips of his tentacles quivered violently at the top of the expanding ball. His energy spear clattered lifelessly to the ground.
Karnage picked up the spear and squeezed past the mound of quivering goober.
“See you around, Doc.”
CHAPTER SIX
The air grew heavy with yellow mist as the tunnel opened up into a large chamber thick with squiggling tubes. A number of branching tunnels ran off on all sides, each spilling their mass of tangled pipes into the chamber. The pipes hung down from the tunnels above like twisting jungle vines. Karnage felt like he was walking through a giant junction box.
Green light flowed and coursed through the pipes in all directions. The white lights danced into the chamber, and dipped and dove into the maze of pipes. Karnage picked his way through, trying to keep pace. The flickering white lights flitted like fairies through an otherworldly forest burning bright with angry green flame.
Karnage felt the floor beneath his feet rumble. He twisted his body around, and barely caught sight of something large and black barrelling towards him through the edge of his helmet visor. Karnage jumped out of the way as the mass hurtled past, smashing through tangles of pipes before colliding with the wall. There was a sickening crunch followed by a far too human scream.
The mass rolled over. It looked like a giant maggot with human limbs sticking out from its body. The remains of a face were just visible on its snout. Karnage recognized the features.
“Riggs?”
The maggoty creature struggled up, turning to face Karnage. “I’m surprised you still recognize me, Major. There’s not a lot of me left to remember.” It’s face scrunched up into a grimace as it let out a series of rhythmic noises that Karnage thought might be an attempt at laughter.
“How do you like it?” Riggs rasped. “My big promotion. They told me I was moving up in the organization. That they wanted my brain. And they got it. Oh god help me, they got it. My great reward for all my loyal years of service.”